Ok - I'm expanding my viewpoint and actually beginning to see the positive side of this moratorium.

At first I was really bummed out by the ban and how the WSC influenced the Commission to violate the public trust by misleading us into thinking that our harvest rights were not on the block.

For me, the change had little consequence other than removing hope that someday in the future the Skagit might open for harvest of something besides bull trout.

It has a nice run of springers but we can't fish for them.
It has a nice run of sockeye but we can't fish for them.
It has a nice run of summer kings but we can't fish for them.
It has a nice run of humpies but we can only fish for them sometimes.
It has a nice run of silvers but we can only fish for them sometimes.
It has a nice run of steelhead but we can't fish for them.

We can catch bull trout, cutthroat (for now), chum and on some good years pinks and coho. It's hardly a year round fishery these days and it affords less and less opportunity every year.

I've thought about not buying another license for many years now when I see the yearly pruning of openings and especially when I buy my license after reading the regs to see how much fishing will be open and then some of that gets taken away after the purchase.

So, the way I see it is they did me a real favor. The money I would have spent on licenses, bait, gear and travel is more than enough to finance an annual 2-3 day guided trip to the Quinault for some fishing fun without a license. Add a trip or two to Canada, which is just an hours drive, plus an excuse to do some deep sea fishing, also without a license, and I can catch all the smelt I want for free.

That's not to mention all the cash I'll be saving by buying most of my fresh salmon from the tribal fishermen who are always willing to give it away for less than a dollar a pound.

So I'd like to thank everyone who worked so hard for this moratorium. You have given me a lot of free time saved me some money and assured me of being able to obtain the freshest tribal caught fish year round.

There will be no more whitefish and bull trout for me during the winter months. I'll be eating nice fat wild steelhead instead and at less than a buck a pound I'll be sure to can some for making salads and sandwiches off season.